Time's Test
by Drop And Die
Summary: XANA is gone, the supercomputer finally at rest, and Aelita is on earth. Unfortunately her budding relationship with Jeremie will be strained by an ocean's distance between the two. How will each cope?


**A/N: Sorry it's been so long, but life has snuck up on me. I'm looking at all my stories and decided to give an old one a reboot. If you remember Time's Test, well, it's back! Updates to Crystal Waves/Calm Between Storms will also be arriving at some point soon. Hope you can bear with me as I try to make up for a year's worth of no updating. Enjoy, and I apologize for the inconvenience of flipping that chapter button and realizing my story isn't complete. I'll repay you with finished stories one day._  
><em>**

_August 10, 2007_

_Aelita,_

_I miss you all already. It's so different here and there's no way I'm used to it yet. I might never be. Tell everyone hey for me, alright? My parents loved meeting everyone although they're probably sick of me talking about you by now. Mom rolled her eyes in the car ride back from the airport and whispered to Dad, "Aelita is definitely his girlfriend. Good for him." I'll pause here a second to give you time to blush at that. I can imagine your beautiful pink-cheeked face so well right now. _

_Everything is alright here; just got moved in completely yesterday. The room is nice and bigger than the dorm room by a little bit. Unfortunately the only piece of luggage I lost was the one with my computer. That pissed me off so much when I heard about it Monday. I'll get a replacement eventually, not sure if Dad is willing to pay for one. If not guess I'll be scraping the money together. A computer better be sitting on my desk as soon as possible; I want to talk to you all the time. Hey, you can be the one seeing my face on the screen for once. The tables have turned._

_Make sure you take my place as the resident genius in Mrs. Hertz's class. You can't let Herve finally feel like he's number 1 in the academic department. You're a genius Aelita, take him down! Of course you do have that unfair advantage of your logical program mind but you have to learn something: Use every advantage you get! This reminds me, I should use my brainpower to devise an easier way of unpacking. The four suitcases and five boxes piled in the corner of the room require my attention…eventually. _

_I did get all my precious possessions unpacked and set up though. By precious possessions I'm referring to the gifts everyone gave me before I left. I will always treasure them. Tell Ulrich that his idea, while brilliant, caused me no end of trouble in customs. I spent an hour talking with the officials and my parents had to beg to let it go through. Thankfully they did. Now the samurai sword is hanging on my wall next to the decorative fan from Yumi. They seem to fit perfectly together. Let those two know and laugh for me at their faces!_

_My parents were surprised at Odd's gift; I clearly wasn't. Of course he would give me a cat glove that shot projectiles. It's more a toy than anything. Tell him I put it to good use; my cousins couldn't handle my barrage of artillery. The glove takes pride of place on my dresser for now. I quite enjoyed seeing the kids, how they've grown. Christmas is in a couple months so I'll have to come up with some good gift ideas for everyone. Present gathering is on my to-do list. Finding a gift to match yours is going to be hard. Doubt I will be able to._

_Princess, your gift is sitting on my bedside table next to my alarm clock of course. I can wake up every day and see that gorgeous orb. I may not be a morning person but I'll get out of bed with a smile on my face no matter what now. How can I not smile when I can look at your heart whenever I want? The beautiful pink crystal in the shape of a heart embedded in the dark blue glass sphere shocked my parents to no end when they saw it. When I told them the orb was from you they shared a knowing look. Don't worry Aelita; my heart belongs to you as well. _

_I start school next week and I'm slightly nervous. Isn't that a joke? I've fought down an evil program that wanted to rule the world, turned a virtual being human, kissed said girl (now who could that be I wonder? Just kidding) yet I'm anxious because of school. I look forward to it but loathe it at the same time. On one hand I don't have my best friends around me. On the other hand I have the memories of you all to sustain me through. _

_Dad's yelling at me to come downstairs for dinner. I can't stay cooped up on the computer at all hours here if I had one! Then again there's no reason to now that you're here on Earth and X.A.N.A. is gone. I'm eagerly awaiting your reply. My new address is on the envelope. Once again say hello to everyone for me and tell them how much I miss them. I miss you the most though princess. I'm already begging my parents to figure out what we're doing for Christmas._

_Wish I was with you,_

_Jeremie_

A plinking sound reached Aelita's ears as a damp spot grew across the bottom of the letter. Wiping away the track of moisture down her cheek, the pinkette re-read Jeremie's message. _He was right, I did blush. _She missed him so much; it felt like some part of her had vanished into the sky. She lightly placed her fingers on her lips as the tingling sensation of his goodbye kiss resurrected itself for the hundredth time.

The green-eyed girl ran her hands over the letter and torn envelope. This was all she had of him for now except memories. Just when she thought life was perfect something had to intercede. Well, she'd taken down obstacles greater than this before. He wasn't dead; only across an ocean. Aelita could handle the separation as long as she knew that he was hers. A week ago they had first celebrated their victory over X.A.N.A. and Aelita's trip to Earth. Now a week later they were missing one of their group members.

A soft knock at her door snapped Aelita's head up. "You in there 'Lita?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah. Just reading his letter," Aelita replied. Yumi walked in and sat next to her depressed friend.

"I know you miss him; we all do. It won't be all that bad though. You're just not used to it," Yumi encouraged. Aelita nodded and looked at the envelope again. _When will I get used to it?_

"It's just hard. I went from talking to him for hours every day for a year to a letter every week if I'm lucky. Withdrawal symptoms are hitting me hard right now." Aelita's face brightened as she remembered a command from Jeremie. "Oh, Jeremie put yours and Ulrich's gift on the wall. They look perfect together." Yumi blushed deeply and punched her on the arm.

"Hey! He said it not me," Aelita complained while rubbing her shoulder.

"True but I can't reach him. I'll just hit the messenger. Also, is Jeremie your special brand of drug or something?" Yumi said. Aelita stuck out her tongue at the Japanese girl and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Come on. You can't miss another meal. We'll think you really want to become Jeremie." Yumi continued. They both chuckled at that before Yumi grabbed the recalcitrant girl's hand and pulled her out the door.

Aelita walked into the cafeteria and winced at the flutter of pain in her heart. The table looked different already, seemingly emptier. Sliding into her usual spot with a tray, she noticed the others all glancing at the chair next to her. Odd looked up from his plate of half-devoured spaghetti and swallowed a huge mouthful before speaking. "Hey Aelita. Finally showing up to eat I see. It's different now isn't it?" The murmured assents from the group coated them in melancholy.

Aelita munched away in silent brooding. A tap on her shoulder brought her back to reality and she looked into Ulrich's concerned face. "You alright?" he asked quietly. The others knew she was the hardest hit by Jeremie's absence. She set her fork down with a clatter. She opened her mouth to say she's perfectly fine but decided against it.

"Not especially. It'll take a while to adjust, if ever," Aelita replied. "Oh Ulrich, Jeremie really loved your gift. About where he p-" Yumi's hand clamped on her mouth while dark eyes gave her a stare of deadly warning. Ulrich raised his eyebrows amidst Odd's chuckles. Aelita pulled away in laughter and Yumi blushed.

Aelita's spirits lifted a little in the soothing presence of her friends. Concern for Jeremie flashed across her mind. He wasn't good with strangers at all; these were his only friends and now he lived far from their support and influence. Worry fled her mind as confidence replaced the emotional void. Jeremie had stood against a force bent to destroy humankind. His strength of will would be enough to get him by. With a small smile on her face and that thought foremost in her mind Aelita set off for her classes.

The bell's ringing announced the end of the school day and Aelita walked out of chemistry with a smug grin plastered on her face. Herve followed behind with a deep scowl and stared with envy at the girl in front of him. _That went exactly as planned. Mrs. Hertz has her replacement for Jeremie now._ Aelita's grin grew into a smirk and Yumi walked up to give her a high five.

"So Aelita, how's missing your boyfriend going?" Sissi asked snidely as she shoved Aelita out of her way in the hall. "Oh wait, guess he wasn't that good of one after all since he abandoned you."

Green eyes flashed with anger. "Sissi, I have two things that you might never get. One, I have a boyfriend still." The last word rolled off her tongue with plenty of emphasis behind it before Aelita continued. "Two, I'm in possession of a working brain. Good luck on those." Sissi growled and walked off in a huff. Yumi cracked a chuckle and motioned excitedly to Aelita.

"We have to read the letter now! Ulrich and Odd are already waiting at your room." Yumi commanded and led Aelita to her room. The two chatted about inconsequential things as they meandered through the courtyard and to the dorms. Odd and Ulrich leaned against the door chuckling as the two girls walked up.

"About time. I almost died of hunger waiting," Odd complained and followed Aelita in after she unlocked the door. Ulrich rolled his eyes and claimed a resting spot on the floor.

"Oh please. You just ate a couple hours ago," Yumi said. Odd looked at her with disbelief and cradled his stomach lovingly with his hands.

"Two hours? I managed to survive that long?" Odd joked. Aelita punched him on the shoulder and made a clicking sound. "Why the clicking noise?"

"To keep count of how many horrible jokes you spout. Every click is a punch and they're cumulative. Try to make yourself funny on occasion." Aelita said with a smile. Ulrich jumped to his feet and inspected the letter sitting on 'Lita's crowded desk between two schoolbooks and a thick fantasy novel. Odd and Yumi crowded into the small space to read Jeremie's words.

"This is it?" Ulrich asked. Aelita nodded and motioned her hand for them to start reading it. Yumi buried her face in her hands at Ulrich's blush once he read the pertinent passage. "Oh! That's why she covered your mouth earlier." Odd exclaimed. Aelita threw him a "duh" look and he grinned sheepishly.

Ulrich chuckled. "Yes, captain obvious. I didn't really think how a sword would look to the airport authorities. Oops. Give Jeremie my apologies alright Aelita?" They finished the letter and leaned back. "He's really gone," Yumi whispered. "It didn't really sink in until just now. Thank God we defeated X.A.N.A. or there would be plenty of problems."

"Major understatement. We would have been screwed without Jeremie. He's quite the whiz with a keyboard. Hope he gets that computer soon; we need to bother him as always." Ulrich piped up. Soon the conversation turned into reminiscing about Jeremie and all the times they shared. The sun slowly set into a pink sea while twilight encroached above Kadic Academy. Aelita looked at the pink clock on her table and quickly did the math in her head. "We've been talking for four hours. Odd hasn't even fainted yet," she joked.

Odd's stomach rumbled. "I need food!" He scrambled to his feet and headed for the door. Ulrich and Yumi followed before noticing that Aelita hadn't moved an inch.

"You coming?" the three asked with concern. Aelita shook her head and waved at them to find some food before Odd attacked people.

"Nah. Not hungry. Go enjoy yourselves; I'll occupy myself with writing Jeremie back." She grabbed a pen and a sheaf of paper and sat down at her small desk as the door closed behind her friends. _This is how it has to be; better make the most of it._ The sound of the pen scratching and the gleaming whiteness of the paper became her world while the full moon floated through the sky.


End file.
